The Doctor’s new companion has been chatting about the “soft mystery” of her character…

Contains spoilers for Asylum of the Daleks.

Since Asylum of the Daleks, the relationship between Clara, the Doctor’s new companion, and that episode’s Oswin (also played by Jenna-Louise Coleman), has been something of a head-scratcher. Entertainment Weekly’s latest interview with the actress may not solve the mystery, but it does provide a little more context as to how Coleman came to play what seem to be two separate characters in the same series:

“It’s interesting actually — I think I can tell you this — that that was never the initial plan either, to have me be Oswin. That was part of a genius plan that Steven came up with half-way through the audition process. That was already written but not written for what was to be the new companion. I was auditioning for the companion and then I got all these sides and I was like, “Who’s Oswin? They clearly don’t know what they want, they obviously don’t know what they’re looking for. They just want people to show them different things and see.” This is what I assumed when I was auditioning, not realizing that it’s basically Steven’s mad genius again.”

Asked whether the Oswin/Clara question is going to be addressed by this year’s Christmas Special, Coleman revealed, somewhat frustratingly, “Uh… mmm… no. We’re going to have what has been referred to as a ‘soft mystery’. For me, filming, I’ve been totally oblivious to Oswin and the Asylum of the Daleks. I really have had to erase it from my memory. Yeah, Christmas is its own episode.”

Can she tell us if Clara is human? Not yet. “That’s why it’s so difficult [to talk about]. Because of the way it started with Oswin, it’s really difficult to say much: where she’s from, what period she’s from, what planet she’s from, even.”

To sum up then, we won't find out the answer in the Christmas Special, which is "its own episode", and once again, it's all down to Steven Moffat's mad genius...